Bhadravathi, Karnataka

Bhadravathi, Karnataka

Bhadravathi is an industrial town in the Shimoga District of Karnataka state, India. It is situated at a distance of about 255 kilometres from the state capital Bangalore and at about 18 kilometres from the district headquarters, Shimoga. It is also the headquarters of the Bhadravathi Taluk. The town is spread over an area of 67 km² and has a population of 160,662 as per the census held in 2001.

History

Bhadravathi derives its name from the Bhadra river which flows through the city. It was earlier known as Benkipura(or Venkipura), which in English means city of fire. In recent history, Bhadravathi rose into prominence with the establishment of Mysore Iron and Steel Limited (now known as Vishweshwaraya Iron and Steel Limited) in 1918. This is a large Iron and Steel manufacturing facility and constitutes a major part of the town. Bhadravathi's reputation as an industrial town was further enhanced with the establishment of a paper manufacturing firm, the Mysore Paper Mills Limited in 1936.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Bhadravati had a population of 160,392. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Bhadravati has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 76% of the males and 74% of the females literate. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Geography

Bhadravathi lies in the central part of the Karnataka state, in the south-east corner of the Shimoga district. The latitude and longitude coordinates of Bhadravathi town are 13°50'N and 75°42'E

Bhadravathi Taluk borders Shimoga Taluk of Shimoga district to the west, Honnali Taluk of Davangere district to the north, Channagiri Taluk of Davangere district to the east and Tarikere taluk of Chikmagalur district to the south. The total area of Bhadravathi Taluk is around 690 km². Bhadravathi Taluk has a population of 338,989 as per 2001 census.

Bhadravathi is at an altitude of around 1900 ft (580 m) above sea level

How to reach

Road

From Bangalore, one can take NH-206 which passes via Tumkur, Tiptur, Arasikere, Kadur, Birur & Tarikere to reach Bhadravathi. Buses that go from Bangalore to Shimoga stop at Bhadravathi and take around 6 hours to complete the journey.

Rail

The Birur-Bhadravathi railway line passes through the city. Many trains run daily from Bangalore to Shimoga that stop at Bhadravathi. Alternatively, one can catch a train that goes to Birur and engage another train/bus from Birur to Bhadravathi. It takes around an hour to reach Bhadravathi from Birur by bus. Recently a daily train is being run from Mysore to Shimoga which can be used to reach Bhadravathi from Mysore.

Air

The nearest airport is Hubli which is at a distance of around 170 km from Bhadravathi. Hubli has daily flights from Bangalore and Belgaum. Airports at Bangalore and Mangalore are also viable alternatives that can be used to reach Bhadravathi.

Industries

Vishweshwaraya Iron and Steel Limited (VISL)

Started under the able guidance of Sir M Vishweshwaraya , VISL (earlier known as Mysore Iron and Steel plant) has been a pioneer in production of high quality alloy and special steels and pig iron. VISL has an installed capacity of 77,000 tonnes of alloy and special steels and 205,000 tonnes of hot metal. VISL has received the ISO: 9001:2000 certificate for steel production through rolled and forged routes and pig iron production. VISL is at coordinates . It is currently owned by SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited)

Mysore Paper Mills Limited (MPM)

The Mysore Paper Mills Limited is an ISO 14001 Company engaged in the manufacture and marketing of Newsprint, Writing, Printing and Packing Paper of different varieties and Sugar at its plant at Bhadravati, Shimoga District with production capacity of 75000 MTA (Metric Tonne per Annum) of Newsprint, 30000 MTA of Writing, Printing and Packing Paper and 2500 TCD (Tonne Crushings per Day) of Sugar and with a total manpower of about 4800 employees.

It was incorporated on 20th May 1936 under the Mysore Companies Regulation, VIII of 1917 and became a Government Company in November 1977 when the State Government acquired controlling interest in the company increasing its share holding to more than 51% as required under Section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956. The Company has its Registered Office at Bangalore.

For the purpose of providing pulp wood for the manufacture of paper, the Government of Karnataka has leased 300 square kilometres of land to the company for raising its own captive plantations. The sugarcane requirement of the company is procured from about 15000 families of the cane growers who are directly dependent on this company.

MPM is at coordinates .

Tourist attractions

Temples

Lakshmi Narasimha Temple in the Old Town area of Bhadravathi, built by Hoysalas in the 13th century. A Superb Temple which is currently maintained by the Archaeological Department of the state of Karnataka (More details- See History above).

Wildlife sanctuaries

Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary was started in 1951 as Jagara Valley Game Sanctuary covering an area of about 252 km². It was combined with the surrounding Lakkavalli forests in the year 1972 and given its present name of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary. It now spans an area of 492 km². It has two component areas Muthodi and Lakkavalli. Some of the wild animals found in this sanctuary are tiger, leopard, wild dog, jackal, elephant, gaur, sloth bear, sambar, spotted dear, monitor lizard, barking deer, wild boar, common langur, bonnet macaque, slender loris and the Malabar giant squirrel. Some of the bird species found here are shama, Malabar whistling thrush, various species of bulbuls, woodpeckers, hornbills and pigeons, drongos and paradise flycatcher. The sanctuary has been recently adopted under a tiger-conservation project called 'Project Tiger' which is an initiative from the Indian Government. Best season to visit is from October to February.

Rivers and Dams

Bhadra River Project Dam across Bhadra River at Lakkavalli, a distance of 20 km from Bhadravathi City. The whole design of this dam was done by Sir. M.Vishweshwaraiah, the then Chief Engineer of Karnataka State. The dam mainly serves the purpose of irrigation in and around Bhadravathi and Tarikere Taluk.

Noted people related to Bhadravathi

Other info

Malgudi days

It has been of quite some interest, where is the town of Malgudi based. The author says it is any town in South India. Those of us who have watched the series of episodes may have tried to guess the location of the town where it was shot. The biggest clue comes from the Kannada language boards that can be seen in many episodes. eg. at movie theatres, post offices or police stations. But the clue to at least one episode, Episode 11 (Sweets for Angels, Kali) lies in the casting where the crowd is listed as Bhadravathi friends making Bhadravathi the location for at least this episode.

Radio station

A radio station belonging to All India Radio is located in Bhadravathi. It broadcasts radio programs on Medium Wave channel at 675 kHz frequency (444 m). This radio station is at coordinates .